Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Practical Jokes

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Posted by Chris Duvall (Member # 787) on 03-24-2001, 07:57 AM:

When I started in this silly little industry of ours some 15 years ago as an usher, we had some Rights of Passage thingy for any of the newbies that came on board. Hazing if you will. Well tonight, my ushers are still keeping the faith with some of the old classics I remember...

1. Filling the water fountain. Have the newbie take buckets of water and pour them down the drain of the fountain. Make sure the newbie knows that the fountain will be filled when it is water backs up in the drain.

2. Buy a gallon of "Technicolor" from the local store of choice. Point out a scene to a newbie from a movie with awkward coloring such as the muted colors of Saving Private Ryan and tell the newbie that you need a gallon of "Technicolor" to replentish the print back to normal. Even funnier if the local store in in on the joke.

Has anybody else done or seen such things in their places? I would love to hear other stories as this...

------------------
Chris Duvall
General Manager
Regal Cinemas
Colonnade 14
Las Vegas, Nevada

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 03-24-2001, 12:09 PM:

The infamous "film stretcher"?

Showing someone how to make a cement splice on acetate film, and then giving them polyester film to demonstrate that they can make a splice.

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Eastman Kodak Company
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7419
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: 716-477-5325 Cell: 716-781-4036 Fax: 716-722-7243
E-Mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: http://www.kodak.com/go/motion

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 03-24-2001, 12:46 PM:

We've done the "Running out of Technicolor" bit a few times. Once was when we had Snow White which was letterboxed on the left and right of the screen. I told the employees that we couldn't project in that area since we were running out of Technicolor. Boy we had fun.

Another thing we had was the "Marquee Stretcher" which was located in the theaters basement, wherever that is. I always thought this was kind of dumb.

Later on I made up a fictional device called the "Squeegee Sharpener". Because in order to clean those windows, that rubber squeegee had to be sharp!

I once made a new female employee climb up to the marquee platform to get the marquee stretcher. She didn't bother to tell me beforehand that she was afraid of heights. But she climbed up anyway. I literally had to climb up and drag her back down. Fun.

I get the feeling that I've posted this stuff in similar thread somewhere.

Posted by Jim Ziegler (Member # 86) on 03-24-2001, 01:11 PM:

Straw Inventory...

Posted by Aaron Sisemore (Member # 145) on 03-24-2001, 01:30 PM:

>>The infamous "film stretcher"?<<

Such an item exists, John! its better known as a brain-wrapping platter!! <rim shot>

>>"Marquee Stretcher" which was located in the theaters basement, wherever that is.<<

...and some older theatres I have seen actually *do* have basements(!)

Some of those old practical jokes have been known to 'backfire': I remember hearing the story of the Air Force crew chief telling one of his subordinates to find him a couple gallons of 'Prop Wash' and not to come back until he got it. Well the subordiate was AWOL for about a week and had traversed several states and finally returned with two gallons of a genuine commercial product called 'Prop Wash' ( likely for marine propellers) Needless to say the crew chief got what was coming to him.

Aaron

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 03-24-2001, 01:54 PM:

John, I'll have to try that one on some newbies.....

Posted by Jerry Chase (Member # 660) on 03-24-2001, 04:48 PM:

Jim, You must never have worked at GCC during the election period. The GCC "Straw Poll" made counting straws a requirement. Dumb.

Some of the real things theatre owners think up for the staffs belong in the practical joke catagory. One owner decided that every cup picked up in the auditorium had to be crushed ad/or punctured, so that it couldn't be re-used. Ushers routinely came out with their hands covered with soft drinks from the half full cups until the owner could be convinced that a concession thief wasn't going to crush the cups he would use to recycle, and everyone else was wasting their time.

Another owner dictated that no leaf blowers were to be used in the auditorium, supposedly to protect the screens. The screens were painted gypsum board.

Spoilage counts at many places require the manager to save hot dogs, buns, pretzels and cookies in unrefrigerated areas. After about a month of a D.M. not showing up to count off the spoilage, the practical joke is to get a new kid to sort the blobs of moldy food for the D.M.

Another owner saved the expense of movable masking "because there weren't going to be any more scope prints."

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 03-24-2001, 05:36 PM:

I certainly hope some theater and district managers read this about un-refrigerated spoilage counts.

You are asking for the Department of Health to come in and shut you down. Fumes of rotting food stuffs can contaminate the whole room, making it (and practically everything in it) a health hazard!

If I saw that, I would report it to the health authorities.

Would you knowingly eat something that was sitting next to a soggy, smelly, rottin' maggot-infested box of green weenies?

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 03-24-2001, 06:16 PM:

I used to send apprentices out for the film stretcher. Once they went up to Best theatre supply looking for it and Rick Long(filmtecher) gave him a big heavy casting from a hertner mg set to bring back

Posted by James R. Hammonds, Jr (Member # 673) on 03-26-2001, 01:06 PM:

i used to label flat and scope leader and confused the hell out of someone who was biulding up a flat movie and only had the scope leader.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 03-26-2001, 03:33 PM:

The first feature I showed on my own and unsupervised was one of the Indiana Jones films. The chief, bless him, had taken one of the reels and swapped it with a reel from a 1970s porno film by the name of 'Female Foxy Boxers'. He'd swapped the leaders round and everything (so that the leader on the swapped reel said 'Indiana Jones, reel whatever'), and it was only that the reel had a VERY nasty smell (I now know that this was severe vinegar syndrome) that I unwound a bit on the bench before lacing it up and discovered what he'd done. I thought something had got spilt on it and wanted to check that it would run.

There then followed a frantic search round the box trying to find where he'd put the Indiana Jones reel, and eventually got the leaders swapped back again and the film laced up with barely two minutes until the changeover.

I wonder what the kiddies' parents would have said if that reel had gone on...

I've contemplated a similar practical jokes myself, but one which affects the customers like that is, IMHO, quite unprofessional. And besides, I don't happen to posess any porno films!

Posted by Thomas Hauerslev (Member # 566) on 04-09-2001, 09:06 AM:

Here, we used to send the poor newbies across the square (From ABCinema) to our colleagues in other cinemas after "perforation holes", or if things were seriously heating up, "a spare blade for a dubble perforation cutter". RUN FOR IT!!! - and they ran.

------------------
All my best
Thomas
..in70mm - The 70mm Newsletter
www.in70mm.com www.dp70.com www.70mm.dk www.hauerslev.com http://hjem.get2net.dk/in70mm

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 04-09-2001, 12:34 PM:

Thomas said: "...we used to send the poor newbies across the square (From ABCinema) to our colleagues in other cinemas after "perforation holes"."

At Kodak, we generate "perforation holes" by the truckload! Talk about "missing chads".

BTW, the "perforation holes" are all recycled to recover the silver and film base.

Posted by Paul Goulet (Member # 297) on 04-09-2001, 03:15 PM:

Sometimes on Sunday Matinees when things are slow..I'll have the New Concession kids look through the Cash drawer for Canadian Quarters because Canadian Quarters are only good in Canada and can't be used in the U.S.

One Sunday I had this newbie convinced there were "Left Handed" screws and "right Handed" screws..I had him going for hours with that one..Going upstairs to ask the Projectionist for a Left Handed screw driver for the left handed screws!
Another one is sending them into the theaters to put all the seats in the "upright" position! It sure makes the day go by very fast!

Paul Goulet

Posted by Jerry Chase (Member # 660) on 04-09-2001, 04:20 PM:

Oh dear, depending on the exchange rate, Canadian quarters may NOT be accepted at face value in the states. We used to have to do the conversions all the time in Vermont. The banks used to get very upset if a C. quarter got mixed in a roll of U.S. quarters. Which reminds me, a cute practical joke is to ask a newly transferred manager from the north to get some southern case quarters or an ink pin.

There are left handed threads, which anyone who has used a weed-eater probably knows. Also, there are screws that can be turned only one way. A favorite place where these are used is in bathrooms, to join the stall panels together. The screwdriver blade to drive these properly has to be sharpened oddly, kind of like the blade of a scissors.

Putting the seats (Griggs) in the upright position keeps the customers from banging their shins on the metal pans. Part of cleaning between shows was always pushing the rocker back so the fronts of the pans lined up.

Of course, you could be doing a practical joke about practical jokes...

Posted by Jay L. Metcalf (Member # 838) on 04-11-2001, 10:46 PM:

Managers...
You need to evaluate the production of you ice machines for you concession stands. This is very easy to do. Simply have a concession employee (preferably new) find out how much ice your machine is outputting. To do this, first find your unwitting victim, secondly give this person a "courtesy cup" or kiddie cup and have them count how many pieces of ice can be placed in the cup and multiply that by how many of these tiny cups that the machine contains.
I don't recomemd trying this on the weekend, but during the week will surely produce some good clean laughs.

P.S. Don't forget to take pictures!

Posted by Per Hauberg (Member # 529) on 04-12-2001, 05:58 PM:

Coming in very late for the third time during the same week to take over the booth for the late shift. -Same man to be released all three nights (the guy, who first tought me the trade). I was about to learn once and for all not to be late:
We met in the hall, just two or three minutes before first evening show: "It's all ready up there -just take it easy".
Well -i did take it easy. -Just inside and a quick look. -Slides ready - commercial ready in projector one (1800 feet reels c/o).
Hmm: What was in the projector was the leader for the commercial and nothing more-nicely thread, number 11 in the gate, the spoolbox closed and the bulp for the spoolbox lamp loosened.... !

-----------------------
"Push the button, Max"
(Fate, Professor)

Posted by James Keel (Member # 835) on 04-14-2001, 07:27 AM:

Let's not start talking about the food. In my concession stand our recipe for the nacho cheese (back when it was in a pump) was to stir in a little jalapeno juice.

This guy used to stir it with his, A) hands or B) feet. I know it's not a "joke", but it's something that shouldn't have been done nonetheless. Personally I wouldn't WANT to stick my foot in cheese. By the way, he told me this after he quit there, and I started working there.

Posted by Joe Schmidt (Member # 822) on 04-20-2001, 12:48 AM:

You are all Sick, sick, sick.

Cruelty to animals is not nice...

Posted by Chris Duvall (Member # 787) on 05-01-2001, 04:12 AM:

It looks like my ushers are coming up with a new pratical joke that is going to be unique at my location. Since I live in Vegas, I get my share of people of the famous sort come through. Mike Tyson is one of them. This last week, he has come to the theatre about 3-4 days straight in a row. This last Thursday when he came in, he was was breaking one of the Cardinal rules...he brought in outside food and drink. Now myself, I would let the man go...I like my ears where they are, thank you very much. However, a couple of the veteran ushers see him and sick one of the newbies on him. Of course the the newbie has no clue who Tyson is and demands that he remove the drink from the building. When Iron Mike flashed him that first look, my staff peering around the corner took off like roaches in bright light. One of my assistants let Tyson go and then let the newbie know who that was. Of course, the veterans were laughing uncontrollably in the lobby. I think the newbie needed to clean his pants after that. Very funny stuff.

The other days after that when he has come in, the veterans again send some poor newbie on the attack with same results. I think Mike knows what's going on and is playing along now.

Now if I can get Wayne Newton to come in...

------------------
Chris Duvall
General Manager
Regal Cinemas
Colonnade 14
Las Vegas, Nevada

Posted by Jerry Chase (Member # 660) on 05-01-2001, 10:22 AM:

Just curious why you couldn't level with Iron Mike and ask him not to bring food in "next time?" Whats he going to do, chew your ear off?

I find it fascinating how the rich and famous get to flaunt the rules and the poor Joe gets nailed. I'd be more upset about having to tell a mother with six kids in tow not to bring in outside food than I would asking Mike Tyson. My guess is that most reasonable public figures would have a similar response to mine, since most of them are very aware of the image they present to others and how fragile their bond with the public is.

Posted by Rachel Carter (Member # 693) on 05-01-2001, 01:11 PM:

During a really slow day last week me and one of my supervisors did the "we need more technicolor" joke.

One of my employees who has only worked at the theater for about a month is quitting because he got bad grades at school. We needed some supplies from CVS so I also told him we need technicolor for the movies (CVS devolops film, so they'd have plenty ). Needless to say, he fell for it. The cashier had no idea what he was talking about and called the manager to ask him....he just laughed and told her to tell my employee that he thinks someone is playing a trick. I guess the manager was laughing so hard my employee could hear him over the phone....

Posted by Andy Muirhead (Member # 712) on 05-04-2001, 07:03 PM:

Yeah i must remember the Technicolour one!

The most recent one we did was send a new cashier next door for a 'Long Stand'! Its a classic, and i'm surprised it wasn't mentioned here before! needless to say he was away for half an hour!

Posted by System Notices (Member # 2357) on 06-14-2004, 03:33 AM:

It has been 1136 days since the last post.

Posted by Aaron Garman (Member # 1653) on 06-14-2004, 03:33 AM:

We once got a friend of ours, Megan, real good when she first started. I'll set up the story first. One of our friends, Derek, who worked at the theater when he was home from school had just come back and instead of wearing our new T-Shirt uniform, he continued to wear the Cinemark checkered shirt. Anyhow, Megan was fairly new and she was just getting to know us. When Derek got home, she did not know who he was. We eventually made up a joke that he was Cinemark's GTCSR (General Theatre Customer Service Represenative). Anyhow, he was supposedly someone who worked for corporate and was overseeing "Customer Service".

So we rigged up an incident between Derek and another friend Ian. Derek pretended to write up Ian, fight with him verbally, and almost get him fired. At this point, Megan was freeking out (she was only 16 at the time). Later that same night after work, a group of us went to a local pizza place. Now at this point, Megan is assuming Derek and Ian hate eachother and are going to get into a really big fight. Well, the first half of the group got there and I believe Derek was in that one. Megan was there at the time, along with me and some others. Minutes later, Ian arrives and sees us. He comes over, sits down, and him and Derek have a huge face off. We all look over at Megan and she is just terrified. Then Derek and Ian both say, "Alright, you ready to go?" Then they reveal the entire thing was a farce. My oh my, Megan was so angry at us. To this day, we still tease her about the incident.

Another funny prank our tech pulled was that he along with the opening projectionist hid a print of The Passion. They told the opening manager that the booth door was open when they arrived and a print of the Passion had been stolen. Needless to say, the manager was freeking out.

Finally, someone told me once as a prank they went in their concession stock room and moved all of the supplies to an entire different part of the building. She said the other manager was in a panic!

Posted by Brandon Willis (Member # 2345) on 06-14-2004, 10:58 AM:

I love to prank call the box office. You can call up the cashiers and ask them for showtimes for porno films, like "What are your showtimes for Slut City Part 5?" or you can ask them stupid questions or gross stuff like "Can I get a refund on my popcorn if it made my kid crap his pants? It made my kid sick, it gave my wive the runs, it even made the dog sick."
My favorite one is this. I was sitting in the accounting office, which is right behind the box office, and called the cashier to make a "complaint":
"Hi, I'd like to make a MAJOR complaint against your theatre. I was trying to go to a sold out movie, and the usher told me that if the show was sold out, I couldn't sit on the floor. However, on the TV screens in the lobby, you have the little paper bag puppet saying that if it's sold out you CAN sit on the floor. It's like you're telling us one thing and then doing something else. What gives?"
The new manager always gets stuck with reading the grosses off when EDI calls.

Posted by Rob Butler (Member # 2274) on 06-14-2004, 11:29 AM:

Although there can be a lot of fun in prank calling the box office, I don't suggest doing this to your own theater for 2 main reasons:

1) There's a good chance they'll recognize your voice.

and

2) While you're on the phone with them making a prank call, someone that actually wants to buy tickets is most likely on hold waiting for you to finish up.

Posted by Andy Aggieri (Member # 2398) on 06-14-2004, 03:55 PM:

I once called the theater claiming to be EDI, So of course my manager read off all the numbers to me. When she finished I asked for yesterdays. I got her to read a weeks worth of grosses to me. Needless to say she wouldn't speak to me for a week after that.

Posted by Jason Black (Member # 684) on 06-15-2004, 12:05 AM:

Andy,

If you were my employee and wasted my time like as you did your own manager.. you'd be jobless, after, of course, having to clean and scrub the bathroom partitions in prep for routine inspections.

I don't need folks like you wasting my time. I have customers to satisfy, not games to play.

Posted by Alexander Smith (Member # 1769) on 06-15-2004, 02:59 PM:

A simple gag you can do, when the ushers are picking up after a show,
is to coax[1] your CP500 in to playing a frequency sweep on all channels.

[1] Define a custom format, assign it to one of the softkeys, with a
fader setting of (about) 7.

I do this to all new ushers just for a giggle really. It's just the way they
stop and look round for a bemused half-second until they see me stood
at the porthole smirking. :-)

Alex.

Posted by Rich Granata (Member # 2285) on 01-11-2005, 10:27 AM:

Just the other day, one of our floor staff finished all of his work early. He was new and he had been working hard all evening. He asked if there was anymore work to be done. (thats my kind of employee [thumbsup]

)

I told him over the walky, "Since it's the 9th of the month, we have to do a seat check."

"What's that?"

"I'll send a spreadsheat and a clipboard down the elevator. Basically you just have to go into every auditorium and sit down in every seat and grade comfort and cleanliness. Stuff like that."

"Oh...OK"

[Cool]

Priceless. Nothing like a joke like that to break an employee's spirit.

Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 01-11-2005, 10:43 AM:

Be careful! If you keep playing jokes on employees like that, somebody is going to pop you! [Wink]

=TMP=

Posted by Brandon Willis (Member # 2345) on 01-18-2005, 10:15 PM:

I called the theater claiming to be EDI one night, and my coworkers didn't recognize my voice at all.

Posted by Jarryd Beard (Member # 2543) on 01-18-2005, 10:43 PM:

Scaring Employees...

When it comes time for closing at night, we have employees shut down each auditoriums' HVAC, patrol the theatres, and make sure emergency exit doors are shut. In one auditorium, there is a very short hallway between the auditorium door and the outside exit. This is referred to as the "red room" due to the fact that only a red exit sign lights it. (This hallway provides access to a closet behind the screen.) The room is great for hiding in until an employee goes to check that door. I've gotten a few people that way. I've also hidden under the masking below the screens. Just as the patrolling employee walks by, I reach out. Talk about shitting your pants. Our main projectionist likes to shut down early, so many times the house lights and intermission music is off in the theatres that have already finished for the night. While the employees usually turn the work lights on, I've often considered standing behind the screen and just whispering their names as they'd walk by. Haven't tried it yet.

Theatres are great for scaring people because they're kinda creepy already.

Posted by Adam Wilbert (Member # 1184) on 01-19-2005, 01:03 AM:

I once kept a stash of lifesized people from a bunch of old standees and stood them up just inside one of the auditorium doors before closing one night. The next morning the opening manager flung open the auditorium door and nearly had a heart attack as she stood face to face with a half dozen people when she thought she was alone in the building. [Eek!]

The security tape of her opening the door was priceless! [Big Grin]

Posted by Jarryd Beard (Member # 2543) on 01-19-2005, 01:29 PM:

Me and the assistant manager did a very similar thing with Dodgeball standees. One was placed in the office and one placed in the closet where the custodian would have found it. The manager found it funny when he came to the office the next day. However, our custodian didn't. She basically crushed it. This became problematic, however, when we received out shipment of Paparazzi standees. As you may recall, these were cardboard photographers intended to "jump out" at patrons. We hid them around corners going into auditoriums. These lasted about three nights before the custodian destroyed them. Needless to say, she was reprimanded for what she did. While the Dodgeball standees may have been a joke, these were clearly intended to advertise the movie.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 01-19-2005, 01:58 PM:

That's good!

It's a good trick. It's effective but harmless. (Unless the person has a weak heart!) PLUS it's something that can only be done, primarily, at a movie theater because you need standees to do it. To top it all off, anybody who gets scared by them should immediately recgnize that they are standees and be doubly embarrassed.

How do you measure a good practical joke? When you pull it on somebody, their reaction should be, "OH! That was HORRIBLE!... Let's do it to somebody ELSE! [evil]

Posted by Thomas Dieter (Member # 2507) on 01-19-2005, 03:45 PM:

I remember my initiation into the theatre. First night on the job, and the manager didn't have the heart to give me the initiation, so he had one of the others do it. It went as such. "Some one just came out stating that the water level on the water fountain was low, would you take and fill it up? Make sure that you put 2 scoops of ice in the bucket of water so that it's cold. There is also a marker on the side of the water fountian that shows it's level." I didn't believe him, and just said, "okay I'll do it." I went into the back and moved one of the ice buckets, and went out the other concession door. I wasn't bothered with it until just before closing when they asked if I had filled it. I stated no, and that there is no marker on the water fountain, and that it gets is water through the plumbing.

I also remember giving one stating that there was dust on the screen causing the picture to appear dull, and not as bright as it should be. And we gave them a broom and sent them into on of the houses with few people watching, like 3-5 people.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 01-19-2005, 04:10 PM:

quote: Thomas Dieter
I also remember giving one stating that there was dust on the screen causing the picture to appear dull, and not as bright as it should be. And we gave them a broom and sent them into on of the houses with few people watching, like 3-5 people

Sorry, that's terrible showmanship, for the sake of a joke. [Frown]

The theatre may never see those 3-5 audience members again. And what if those newbees had damaged the screen trying to clean it with a broom? [thumbsdown]

Posted by Adam Wilbert (Member # 1184) on 01-19-2005, 05:05 PM:

...not to mention that they probably got the screen dirtier by spreading dirt from the broom onto it.

My other favorite practical joke: when Titanic came out, we got this huge triangular standee that just said "Titanic: Summer" (before it was pushed back) on three sides. We put about 4 or 5 33gallon trashbags worth of popcorn inside of it over the course of a week and then asked someone to move it down the hall after closing. As soon as they lifted it up, all the popcorn rushed out the bottom and they were standing knee deep in it.

My requirements for a good practical joke:

1) it doesn't count if it is directed towards someone new. They just don't know better and are looking to please everyone, so they'll agree to anything.

2) It requires pre-planning to gather materials or to set up

3) It requires that you pay attention to peoples routine

4) If you dish it out, you have to be able to accept the inevitable get-back.

Posted by Jarryd Beard (Member # 2543) on 01-19-2005, 05:27 PM:

We had a really annoying employee named Zack. Zack was one of those people that are extremely gullable as well. I had remembered the "refill the Technicolor" line from this forum, so I decided to try it on Zack one night. I told him to go to Sam's Club and buy more Technicolor, we'd reimburse him once he brought a receipt. He thought he was smart and pointed out that Technicolor wasn't something to be refilled. I told him to go look behind the screen in one of the auditoriums. Sure enough, there was a big Technicolor tank in the corner. Before I knew it, Zack was off to the store. Well, I did stop him before he walked through the rain to Sam's, but it was great to see him fall for the joke anyway.

So, what was the big Technicolor tank? It was actually the CO2 tank for the soda machines.

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 01-19-2005, 05:42 PM:

quote: Jarryd Beard
...big Technicolor tank? It was actually the CO2 tank for the soda machines.

Hahahahaha, priceless! That's hilarious, Jarryd! I gotta remember that one!

Posted by Chris Mosel (Member # 1451) on 01-20-2005, 09:05 AM:

We finally lost our last "Projectionist" and now use ushers to thread and start movies. Since they are not as familiar with the sounds of the booth I mounted an old credit card so that it rubbed one of the gears on the back of the projector. It took them a couple of runs on that machine to find the problem, but they were afraid the machine would explode at any time.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 01-20-2005, 10:48 AM:

quote: Jarryd Beard

So, what was the big Technicolor tank? It was actually the CO2 tank for the soda machines.

At the Cinemark theater in Summerville, SC (et. al.), the CO2 tank is in the back corner of the projection booth!

Somebody needs to go there and put a big "Technicilor" sticker on the side of that tank! [Big Grin]

Posted by Jarryd Beard (Member # 2543) on 01-21-2005, 05:31 PM:

Booth would be cool. It would give a few chuckles every time you saw it.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 01-21-2005, 11:05 PM:

On top of that, it would be a great "newbie joke" laying in wait for every new hire that walked into the booth!

Make it a point never to mention what that big tank is for, over there at the end of the hallway. Let the sucker come to you! But when he does, don't spring the trap just yet. Just casually say something like, "Oh, that's the Technicolor tank. Every few weeks a truck comes to refill it." Even still... resist the temptation to strike. Be a bit vague. The longer you can stretch this out, the more "normal" it will seem when you finally DO pull the joke on him!

All the tanks I have seen have some kind of guage on them. Sometimes it's a kind of a sightglass. Other times it's a pressure guage of some sort. In almost all cases it's marked with a red zone or a "1/4...1/2...3/4...FULL" mark of some kind.

The next time the "Technicolor tank" starts to run low, pretend to notice it and bring your fish over to the tank and say, "Oh, SHIT! The truck didn't come on time to refill the tank! It's FRIDAY NIGHT! Hurry! Quick! Run out and get some TECHNICOLOR before the tank runs out!"

I'm pissed at myself for not thinking of this one myself! [Wink]

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 01-22-2005, 01:04 PM:

Where I used to work (non theater related) I started off placing pennies on people's desks at random. People would say, "Where the hell are all the f*in pennies coming from??" Then they started magically showing up everywhere. My favorite place to leave them is in the change compartment of vending machines.

Eventually others joined in, and a "penny pile" developed that "moved" from one prankster to the next, and before long, we had a small cup full of pennies that when it showed up in our stuff somewhere, the goal was to add a few pennies and hide it somewhere else. Then the goal became booby trapping something with the cup of pennies.

One of my favorite booby traps was when I took the cup and set it inside a overhead cabinet at someone's desk, and rigged the door with a rubber band that would pull on the cup when it was opened. Sure enough, eventually they opened the door and... CRASH!!! Then everyone on the floor would get a huge laugh as they heard the big crash of coins because they knew what had happened.

Then the mess was cleaned up, and the cup was redeployed to a new location, and so it continued. This went on for months.

Posted by Brandon Willis (Member # 2345) on 01-22-2005, 10:16 PM:

How about this one:
Training a new concessionist on New Year's Eve. In the middle of the last rush of the night, with a line stretching almost to the front of the box office, the guy I had her paired with tells her that she has to refill the water fountain, immediately. Needless to say I was not amused.

Posted by Gracia L. Babbidge (Member # 582) on 01-24-2005, 09:20 AM:

One theater I was at (once upon a time) had two kid-sized 'dummies' that got used for Halloween displays. (As in the holiday, not the movie!) You know, just some jersey shirts & pants, with gloves & socks stitched on, filled with stuffing, wearing spooky masks.

At other times of the year, they were stashed in the upstairs "random storage room". The door to said room was rarely locked, and frequently left open. The DM's office at that time was in the building, next to that storage room. The doors were probably 5-6 feet away from each other, with the office further from the booth than the storage, thus noboby besides the projectionists really ever noticed or walked past the storage room.

Naturally, the dummies got positioned so they looked like they were doing all sorts of naughty things. This was an on-going gag for a while, they'd get shifted a few times a month or so.

Then one night I took it in a different direction...
I rigged half-ass nooses out of old trailers, and strung 'em up. This dismayed the opening projectionist much more than I had anticipated. (How on earth was I to know that he had known someone that hung themself?!?)
I got reprimanded by someone who, while they found it amusing, thought I could make better use of time while I was at work.
[uhoh]

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 01-26-2005, 11:58 PM:

quote:
Training a new concessionist on New Year's Eve. ...the guy I had her paired with tells her that she has to refill the water fountain, immediately. Needless to say I was not amused.

I just thought of the PERFECT solution to that problem!

Take the wise-ass asside. IN FRONT OF the new trainee, order *HIM* to go refill the water fountain immediately! Say to him, "No! I need [Susie] up here right now. You do it!... Oh!... And be sure to use plenty of ice!"

This puts your joker in the position of:

A) Having to admit to the whole world that he's taking advantage of the newbie.

... OR ...

B) Having to suffer the humiliation of performing a menial task IN FRONT OF the very person HE was trying to humiliate!

Turn-about is fair play, doncha' know! [evil]

Posted by Cory Isemann (Member # 2517) on 01-27-2005, 11:02 AM:

We do little things sometimes when we leave at night to see what the janitor will do.

Posted by Brandon Willis (Member # 2345) on 01-31-2005, 08:02 PM:

Cory-
"Eeet was beeezy tonight, yes?"

Posted by Rich Granata (Member # 2285) on 02-02-2005, 03:07 PM:

...

[ 02-14-2005, 06:42 PM: Message edited by: Rich Granata ]

Posted by Brandon Willis (Member # 2345) on 02-13-2005, 11:46 AM:

Aren't those Regal tickets? What theatre do you work at?

Posted by Edwin Schwing (Member # 1270) on 02-14-2005, 01:30 AM:

they look pretty Regally to me...

E

Posted by Will Kutler (Member # 770) on 02-21-2005, 11:13 PM:

I am not currently working at a theatre, but I did play a practical joke on a foreign grad student the other day that some F-T members would really appreciate! [Big Grin]

Anyhow, at Arizona State University-East, where I am currently a student, the Mortuary Science College is right across the street from the College of Engineering (where I am at). So, anyhow, this foreign student asks what mortuary means. It took a little explanation/translation on my behalf before that grad student finally understood it. So this student asks if they have a retort there to perform cremations. Naturally, I said yes. Then I led this grad student into our welding lab and pointed at the refractory brick at each welding station which is used for Oxy-Acetylene welding and said to this poor soul, "Where do you think we get our welding brick from?!" Well, that grad student turned really pale, and was just about to loose it (chunks that is)! He figured out it was a practical joke when I could not help bustin up with laughter after watching his response!

AINT I A STINKER! [Big Grin]

Posted by Floyd Justin Newton (Member # 1316) on 02-26-2005, 06:36 PM:

Yes Will, you are! ( [bs]

)

Posted by Kyle Murphy (Member # 3018) on 02-27-2005, 05:44 AM:

Around the theatre I work at we'd do a couple things in concession to keep ourselves from go mad or dying from boredom. My favorite thing (which i invented, least in our theatre) was the mystery charges. You have a customer ( I usually go for teens ) say they want cherry coke, not regular, so I go ahead and tell them it costs 50 cents extra to get the cherry coke over the regular. They usually look at me all stunned and asked if I am kidding. (This is the hardest part) Keeping a straight face I say no, it costs 50 cents extra for them to add the cherry flavoring. And 90% of the time they will go digging through their pockets. At this point I will giggle like a girl and tell them I am sorry and just a very sad/bored emplyee getting a cheap laugh. They laugh, I laugh, the day goes on. Oh, also try selling extra straws and lids, a quarter a piece. The looks on people's faces are priceless.

Posted by Rich Granata (Member # 2285) on 02-27-2005, 08:45 AM:

That reminds me of stupid stuff I used to say to customers for dumb laughs.

"Do you have Mountain Dew?"

"We Mountain DONT"

Posted by Jason Black (Member # 684) on 02-27-2005, 03:47 PM:

Kyle,

While you may think you're being funny and passing time, you may wind up getting yourself in hot water with a csutomer who doesn't share you 'sense of humor' or a manager who doesn't think playing with the customers, especially when it comes to money, humorous.

I'm speaking from my own standpoint, of course. You want to find something to do to help pass the time between shows?
Get down there and clean out from under the coke towers.
Pull the warmers out and clean the sides and back of the unit.
Pull all candy out of the cases and clean the cases out.
Clean the inside of the candy case glass.
Wipe out the insides and the outer edges of the menu boards.
Remove the lids from your lid dispensers and clean them (the dispenser, not the lids)

Before you know it, you've got patrons for the next set coming in and you no longer have to 'find' stuff to do do fight boredom.

Oh, nevermind, most employees doen't care to think this far into their job. [Roll Eyes]

Posted by Kyle Murphy (Member # 3018) on 02-27-2005, 10:45 PM:

Jason,

I've seen some of your posts, you really don't seem like a pleasant person. My antics have never caused harm and I am one of the hardest working employees at my theatre. All of my co-workers would vouch for me. And so would my managers, especially considering I am moving up to management. You can have fun and be a good employee and get stuff done. You don't have to be uptight to be a good boss either. That's just my opinion

Posted by Jason Black (Member # 684) on 02-27-2005, 10:54 PM:

Kyle,

No offense taken, but allow me to make the following comment to you.

I see that you've contributed two whole posts and you already know how to 'read' into the posts made by others.

Go back, read my post again, and actually take a second to think about what I said. Sometimes, in life, one has to take two steps back and think outside the box to get a firm grasp on the 'entire' situation, as could.

I, in no way, made reference that you were not a good employee. Moving up to management means very little (with regard to an employee's overall ability). If you don't believe it, go look around 60% or better of the multiplex's of today.

You're correct, you can have a good time at work, with the customers, and with co-workers. Knowing where to draw the line is the vital key regarding your 'antics' (with patrons).

I wish you nothing but the best, as I would any aspiring theatre employee. While you may think my words aren't nice, I just don't sugar coat anything becuase, in life, nothing is sugar coated. It is what it is, plain and simple. If you can't deal with that, management, of ANY kind, is not what you need to pursue.

Posted by Will Kutler (Member # 770) on 02-27-2005, 11:03 PM:

I agree with Jason. While practical jokes can be fun, they can easily get out of hand. I used to really love practical jokes, but I have seen occasions when innocent fun with no real anomosity intened ended up leading into fist fights and other serious problems because the jokee was truly offended.

In todays day and age, were people can be unpredctable, it may be in your best interest to refrain from practical jokes with customers...especially when a business transaction is involved.

Cheers

K

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 02-28-2005, 10:44 AM:

Any "practical joke" that harms or risks presentation quality or could result in an angry or dissatisfied customer is very poor showmanship. If a cashier tried that "joke" on me, I'd expect the manager to take disciplinary action, or I would avoid coming to your theatre again. [Frown]

Posted by Aaron Garman (Member # 1653) on 02-28-2005, 07:06 PM:

Sure, it's a risky joke but if you're just doing it with teenagers that tend to just loiter around and harass us anyhow, I don't think it's going to affect anything. Now if it was someone like you John or just your average adult patron, I'd say refrain from that kind of joke. Some people are easy going, but others may go off. Not saying anyone here would go off, but some folks (especially drunk customers [Smile]

) can be volatile! Oh by the way, welcome Kyle...do I know you? [Wink]

AJG

Posted by Kyle Murphy (Member # 3018) on 02-28-2005, 07:09 PM:

Hey Aaron, you look familiar, maybe I've bumped into you at work or something. I like your view on things though. Good man.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 02-28-2005, 10:25 PM:

I'd have to say that, overall, I don't joke around with people very much unless I like them. If I'm joking with somebody they meet my minimum requirements for socialization. Many times, the more I joke with you the more I like you. In many cases, the opposite is true. If I DON'T like you I WON'T joke around with you.

I hypothesize that, for most people, the same holds true except when practical joking is used as a method of bullying. That, I DO NOT condone.

I have certain criteria for what makes a good joke:

1) MOST IMPORTANT! NO HARM DONE!

2) Creativity is key.

3) It's got to be the kind of joke that somebody might say, "Oh! That was terrible!... Let's go do it to somebody ELSE! [evil]

"

When we used to screen prints late at night, it was sometimes funny to turn the sound WAAAaay down on somebody sitting in the theater by themself. That would force them to come up to the booth to fix it. When they got there, a "booby trap" might be waiting for them. If it was a scarry movie they were screening, it might be funny to try to scare them. Those cardboard standees strategically placed in a dark hallway would be an EXCELLENT joke.

Now, here's criteria #4:

4) When you get a trick played on YOU, being a good sport is a REQUIREMENT! After the shock of being scared out of your skivvies wears off, you should be able to laugh it off and say, "Good one!" I use the test of, "Would it be funny if I saw it happen to somebody else?"

If it meets all four of those requirements, practical joking can be a good way to promote esprit de corps among the group, provided it's kept within limits.

Posted by Brandon Willis (Member # 2345) on 03-03-2005, 03:26 PM:

We have practical jokes from time to time at my theatre, but we usually only do them to other managers, the security officers, or the janitorial staff. Very rarely will I play a joke on a member of floor staff. Most of them are teenagers and, quite frankly, don't know where to draw the line. They will do it to other people and it gets out of hand. I prefer to only do these things to other managers, who tend to be more mature about it. Plus, another manager has a better chance of getting back at me, which keeps things interesting during the slower times when pranks start popping up.

Posted by Will Kutler (Member # 770) on 03-04-2005, 01:14 AM:

I LOVE political satire, and one of my FAVORITE groups is of course, The Capitol Steps!

So, I had a supervisor once who was a die-hard Dallas Cowboys fan. An it was this supervisor who loved trying to harrass me on occasion.

But I got him back good on one occasion....by blasting The Capitol Steps version of "Mommas, Don't Let Your Babbies Grow Up To Be Cowboys" during an employee party! Everyone busted up with laughter, and that supervisor backed off of me for a while.

As the ole addage goes...."What goes around comes around!" [Big Grin]

I think I posted the lyrics to this song a long time ago in the MAAR-A-THON, but some lines are:

Mommas, don't let your babbies grow up to be COWBOYS, 'cause out on the field they may play pretty well, but its hard to throw touchdowns while locked in a cell!. The Dallas formation is breaking probation and O.J.'s the first one they'll sign, but why's the crowd roarin? Could Dallas be scorin'?....or SNORTIN' THE 50 YARD LINE!"

Posted by Jarred Olsen (Member # 1833) on 06-30-2005, 07:05 AM:

Sometimes when there's a new concessionist working, who doesn't know all the employees' faces yet, I like to come in and order something not on the menu. Be sure to point at the non-existant candy, reassuring the new employee that it indeed exists.

This is great. They start looking at the screen for the button for the candy, and once they can't find it, they search underneath for the candy, then the candy cabinet. After the search is done, I have them come out of the concession to show them exactly what it looks like. In that case, I laugh at them, or if they decide to trust me and call the manager for another case from the stockroom, the manager knows what's up and gets a kick out of it.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 07-01-2005, 09:16 AM:

This isn't exactly a theater prank but it's funny, none the less.

Get a long piece of 2 X 4 (Lumber) that's too long to fit into your friend's (victim?) car. Saw it in half. Reassemble it INSIDE said car so that it's impossible to remove.

Apply a generous coating of Gorilla Glue then join the boards with a few drywall screws for good luck. Wrap the glue joint with rags or plastic to keep the glue from dripping inside the car. (It is IMPOSSIBLE to remove once dry. It will ruin the interior!)

When your friend (soon to be ex-friend) comes back to the car he will find a piece of lumber stuck inside the car, preventing him from driving until he gets it out. Of course, he will try to manuver the board around to get it out but will be unsuccessful. Then, he will find the drywall screws and try to take them out. That won't work because Gorilla Glue is stronger than the wood itself! The ONLY way to get the board out is to saw it in half!
(Lots of cussing and swearing to be heard, for sure!)

Your new enemy will be forced to try to drive around with a huge 2 X 4 extending through the passenger compartment of his car until he can get a saw to cut the wood in half.

Bonus points awarded if the wood can be placed inside the car so that it is wedged inside the steering wheel or against the gearshift, thus completely immobilizing the car until the wood is removed!

[evil]

Posted by Charles Phillips (Member # 2594) on 07-03-2005, 05:02 AM:

At the first theater I worked at they would ask the newbie clean the non-existent outside bathroom, and see how long it would take them to realize they were being pranked. I believe the longest time taken was two hours.

Posted by Robert Burtcher (Member # 3227) on 07-04-2005, 02:42 AM:

I've been working for Dickinson for about 6 weeks now, and we just had a new hire start last Friday. Both of us got our initiation tonight.

Our theatre is built into the second floor of a popular shopping mall, so the emergency exits have quite a few flights of stairs, usually in a spiraling quare pattern. In one emergency exit corridor, the stairs go from the ground level, up to the emergency exit for Theatre 2, then up to the rear hallway, and then up to the projection booth. There's a clear space in the center of this stairwell from the ground level all the way up. Only the booth door locks, and although there are no handles to open the doors to the hallway or theatre 2 from inside the corridor, people will still occasionally make their way inside this stairway in an attempt to sneak around.

Anyway, I was told that there were some kids hanging out at the bottom of the stairwell, being sneaky, and I needed to take care of them. So, I get into the stairwell, and listen for a moment, but I don't hear anything, so I go down the stairs to see if the kids are still there. I get to the bottom of the stairwell, see something orange fly by out of the corner of my eye, and then I get hit with two splashes of water from these huge water balloons. Startled the hell out of me. =D

Went back upstairs and told the newbie that I couldn't see anything down there, so I wanted him to check for me, and I'd stay upstairs in case they hid somewhere and they were trying to sneak back in the door. He made the mistake of looking over the railing and got smacked in the neck with a water balloon. But he laughed it off, he thought it was awesome and couldn't wait to prank the next new hire, lol

Posted by Chris Mosel (Member # 1451) on 04-23-2006, 11:13 PM:

Two assistants covered the G.M.'s office in tin foil. It was such an awesome job there was no real anger at the prank.

Ceiling, Walls, Furniture, and office equipment was covered. Everythin but the floor (ran out of time.) It is amazing what $30.00 in foil can cover.

Posted by Robert Burtcher (Member # 3227) on 04-24-2006, 05:42 AM:

That's one of the coolest things I've ever seen. [thumbsup]

Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 04-24-2006, 07:22 PM:

That reminds me of the Spongebob Episode "Where everything is chrome plated in the future"...

HA!

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 04-25-2006, 01:09 AM:

Only booth joke I've personally been witness to was at the now defunct Mitsubishi IMAX in Los Angeles. When the IMAX film Speed was recut and re-recorded to make it more PC they ended up with a bunch of 1570 footage that was destined for the dumpster. Instead, it was unspooled into the booth office. Filled it up rather nicely and was quite impressive looking through the office' sliding glass door. A note was left taped to the glass for the morning opening operator about some minor problem with the print and the reel unit. No payoff for me as I didn't get to see the reaction... [Big Grin]

Posted by Jason Winn (Member # 3568) on 04-25-2006, 02:31 AM:

Back in January 2005, we had a new booth manager that just got promoted. So, of course, we had to initiate him by pulling a practical joke. We pretended that we dropped a print and we wanted to see his reaction. Fellow Film-Tech member, Chris Hipp, was in on the joke. Actually, I think it was idea.

First, here's the backstory. Several months prior to this, a movie came out called Mickey. It was some low-budget, independent film that was released with hardly any promotion. It only played for a week. We tore the print down and put it back in the cans. But they never came to pick it up. They told us that we could keep it. Man, this movie must really suck if the studio doesn't even want it back. So, these two cans just sat around in booth for 7 or 8 months collecting dust.

Then, in January on the night before White Noise came out, we decided to play a prank on our new booth manager. It was Chris's last night and the new manager was taking over. We built up the print of Mickey. We even added a couple of old trailers to make it look like it had a trailer pack. We put two labels on the outside of the print and wrote "White Noise" on it. Then, we took the print and just threw it on the floor. Then, we tried to tangle and twist the film as much as possible making it harder to fix.

I called the new booth manager on his cell phone and started panicing. I asked him if he was on his way, and I told him that we have a big problem and we need his help right away. That's pretty much all I said. I didn't tell him what the problem was. He came in with a worried look on his face, not knowing what to expect. Chris and I were freaking out and yelling at each other. We were blaming each other for dropping the print. We told the booth manager that he needs to fix it, because we're not fixing it. By this point, our booth manager's face was red, and we was about to start freaking out, but he was trying to remain calm under pressure. Then, Chris ruined the whole thing with his horrible acting. He was like, "Screw this!" and he threw down his keys and radio and walked out. The whole time, he had a stupid grin on his face and he did this stupid strut when he walked out. The booth manager knew something was up then. That's when I told him it was all a joke. If it wasn't for Chris's bad acting, we would've had him fix the entire print before we told him it was a joke. Nah, we probably wouldn't have done that. We probably would've waited at least 10 minutes and then told him it was a joke. Chris could not act even if his life depended on it.

How's this for irony? A couple days later, one of our projectionists actually dropped a print for real. Me and the new booth manager had to fix it. It took us like 2 and half hours to fix it. I guess that joke came back to bite me in the ass. I guess that's a classic case of "the boy who cried wolf."